Opinion: Is Jeremy Clarkson really the farming ambassador we need?

Anna Jones is a freelance journalist and founder of Just Farmers, a group putting practical farmers in touch with the wider media. Here she shares her thoughts on Jeremy Clarkson as an ambassador for farming

I don’t spend much time thinking about Jeremy Clarkson. So when Farmers Weekly asked me for my views on whether he’s “good or bad for British agriculture”, ahead of next week’s second series of Clarkson’s Farm, I had to do some research.

I decided to ask a group of farmers for their thoughts, bearing in mind his controversial comments about the Duchess of Sussex and his delayed apology.

See also: What’s in Your Shed? visits Jeremy Clarkson’s 400ha farm

Everyone agreed his attack on Meghan Markle was wrong. Their comments varied from “vile” to “going a bit far”.

One (male) farmer said the majority of people “generally agree” with Clarkson, and he’s done “a lot of good for farming”.

Someone else suggested the whole furore was “irrelevant to farming” and would “all calm down”. One woman shrugged and said she found him quite funny.

Another man asked: “How do you even know his article was against women?”

In case you missed it… writing in The Sun in December (in a column that has since been taken off the website), Clarkson paints a disturbingly stark image of himself lying in bed, grinding his teeth, being plagued by contemptuous thoughts of Meghan Markle, his cells so fired up on hatred that he can’t sleep.

Maybe it was there, tossing and turning in the darkness, that he was struck by the thought of parading the Duchess “naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.”

I bet he thought the Game of Thrones reference made him sound cool. Pillock!

© Anna Jones

Clarkson even shared his bizarre female hate-list, with Meghan Markle holding the top spot over Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon and child murderer Rose West. It’s hardly an article for women, is it?

Only one woman in the group spoke up to criticise him (though she seemed a little nervous doing so).

Afterwards, two other women came to speak to me privately. One, a woman of colour, said she was disgusted and wanted to say so, but worried that people would think she was “playing the race card”.

The other, in a lowered voice, said it was interesting how it was mostly men who had defended him.

I was shocked by how uncomfortable, and cowed, these women felt among their peers. Both expressed concerns about how Clarkson’s tarnished image now reflects on British farming.

As an industry, we went to town on Clarkson – showering him with praise, shoving awards at him like infatuated groupies.

NFU 2021 Farming Champion of the Year! Winner of the Flying the Flag for British Agriculture Trophy!

Wined, dined, and adored at a farming awards ceremony! Finally – a famous, influential ambassador for British farming. Hurrah!

We forgot one important thing. Jeremy Clarkson is not an ambassador for anyone but himself.

Placing a proven loose cannon on such a pedestal is a dangerous game which could easily backfire. Is a spiteful provocateur really the kind of champion we want?

Yes, Clarkson’s Farm (the TV programme) is good for farming. But Clarkson (the man) also puked out a venomous pile of misogynistic trash that should never have left his weird, hate-riddled bedchamber, let alone wind up in a national newspaper.

My fear is that by being so quick to jump into bed with everyone’s favourite “farming hero”, our industry is cosied right up next to a prat. And what are we doing to call him out? Diddly squat.

Got a view? Do share it by emailing farmersweekly@markallengroup.com